Rafters Knock off Dock Spiders in Extra Inning Thriller

The Rafters scored one run in three consecutive extra innings to subdue the Dock Spiders.

FOND DU LAC, WI- The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (14-13) defeated the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (16-10) in 12 innings. The win broke a Rafters three-game losing streak in the first of a two-game series in Fond du Lac.

McKinley Erves (La Grange) laced a base hit into right field, scoring Angelo D’Acunto (Holy Cross) in the top of the 12th for the game-winning hit. Brayden Bonner (Dixie State) earned the win with a perfect 12th inning.

Northwoods League rules dictate that a runner starts at second base in every extra inning. The Rafters and Dock Spiders scored that runner in both the 10th and 11th. Nick Torres (Long Island) pitched the Rafters through the 10th and 11th, stranding the game-winning run at third in both innings.

Wisconsin Rapids scored first with two runs in the top of the first, courtesy of a Marco Castillo (Claremont-McKenna) two-run double. Castillo had his best day as a Rafter with three hits and three RBIs.

Ben Schoneman (Colorado School of Mines) started for Wisconsin Rapids twirling four innings of four-hit ball. The Dock Spiders scored two in the fourth to tie the game at two.

The Rafters answered back in the top of the fifth. Couper Cornblum (Wichita State) scored on a passed ball, and a Castillo RBI double scored Weston Eberly (Columbia). The Rafters could not hold the lead with the Dock Spiders scoring on a home run in the eighth before the game-tying run scored in the ninth on a Rafter error. Zach Bennett (Central Florida) pitched the Rafters out of the inning with the game-ending run on third.

Erves and Cornblum both had two hits for the Rafters on the day. Hayden Harris (Georgia Southern) pitched two shutout innings in relief.

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